In Mark 1:21-28, we find Jesus teaching with such authority that the congregation was astonished at His teaching. While He was teaching in the synagogue, a man with an unclean spirit begins to interrupt the teaching. I wonder how many services the man had attended previously without stirring up the evil spirit within him. But in the presence of Jesus the unclean spirit was exposed but also commanded to depart from the man.
The people were amazed (1:27) at the authority of Jesus to not only preach powerfully but power to cast out evil spirits and set a man free. The people realized something new had appeared on the scene - a man who spoke with authority and demonstrated a new power.
His Words produce great Works! For Jesus and the early church, exorcism was sign of the coming of God's kingdom, signs of the redeeming power of Jesus.
His Word of command freed the man. There were other exorcists in those days - they customarily identified themselves with some divine name and often used spells, incantation, and magic. But Jesus used nothing but the Word alone. A word from Jesus was invested with power for which there were no parallels in their experience.
As the Church, the Body of Christ on earth today, we are to speak the Word of God authoritatively. Jesus is with us! His authority rests with His Church. There are individuals in the world that are troubled by "unclean spirits" of torment, difficulty and trouble. They need to hear the authority of Christ's Word and experience the power of His deliverance.
Thank you for your posts Pastor Terry.
ReplyDeleteIt blows my mind sometimes to think that *I* have been given authority in his name to speak the Word. With authority comes great responsibility, and that responsibility is becoming more and more clear to me.
I thank you and all Chyrch elders, as well as fellow partners, for speaking the Word boldly into my life.
looking forward to further posts from you in this series.
Anna B.